Column: Significance of all-star games

Tuesday

Bringing the top athletes of one sport together to face off is never about the actual game.

I think all-star games signify a stage for the best players of a particular area or a particular division to convene and have fun against each other while showing off their talents.

The arenaprovides an outlet for many athletes to get creative with their skills, and some for the last time if you’re talking about high school or college players.

While everyone is aware they were selected — by vote or otherwise — to play because of their respective athletic talents, they still have to play as a team. They have to play with guys and girls they’ve never played with, with plays they’re not familiar with and with a coaching staff they may not be used to.

Sometimes, playbook strangers become friends.

As the N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star football game approaches, East head coach Randy Raper said you’ll learn how “football smart” some of the kids are when they have to adapt to other schemes than the ones they’ve grown accustomed to this season. It adds a very interesting dynamic to the game and it challenges the players’ comprehension of their sport.

Kinston’s Denzel Keyes will be playing in the game tonight at 8, the same contest his brother Angelo competed in last year.

“It was a great experience,” Angelo told me. “(I) had fun, didn’t do what I want to do, but I still got to play in it.”

He’ll likely be there when his brother plays in High Point, watching as all the kids work together.

How the groups work collectively to notch a win for their side is bigger than the game. Heck, the game doesn’t mean much in itself. While it’s always nice to pull the W, it’s not like it counts towards a team’s record or a player’s personal statistics for a season.

It’s just fun and games, literally.

I feel like it’s one of the very few times competition is lightened. No one will miss the playoffs if the team doesn’t win. There isn’t a major championship trophy on the line. It’s an athlete’s opportunity to ball out.

That’s why the NBA All-Star game is always extremely high-scoring (which, BTW, the West won for the third time in a row this year, beating the East 143-138, the lowest amount of points in the last three).

The point is, there are no standings to be worried about. But bragging rights are always dope.

And while players get to enjoy the sport they love, in the middle of or at the end of a season, fans get to watch their favorite athletes work. They sometimes vote for who they want to see in the exhibition competition, so everyone gets involved. Media members have a cut too in certain games, like with MVP voting for example (which, BTW, Kobe Bryant has won four times).

I’m sure it takes a lot of hard work to become a successful athlete and to stay one. All-Star games are the time to show people the work you’ve done while relaxing as much as possible before getting back to the nitty-gritty, hardcore efforts.

It’s a place where guys and girls will create memories along the path of their athletic careers and journeys. Sure, they can do that all while competing throughout the season, but pressure is lightened in the face of an all-star game.

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

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